The present invention relates to search engines, and more specifically, to a search engine capable of efficiently searching a diverse stream of information content for information matching search queries from a plurality of users.
A search engine is a program that helps users find information in an information network. Users submit search queries comprising words or phrases indicating what they are searching for, and the search engine replies with a list of Web pages it predicts are relevant to that query. A page considered by a search engine for inclusion in this list can be termed a xe2x80x9ctarget pagexe2x80x9d.
The list of Web pages returned by a search engine is ranked by relevancy. Typically, relevancy is determined mostly by the content of the target pages. For example, if the user searches for the phrase xe2x80x9cchocolate cakexe2x80x9d, a typical search engine will rank pages containing the phrase xe2x80x9cchocolate cakexe2x80x9d before those which merely contain the words xe2x80x9cchocolatexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccakexe2x80x9d separately, and those pages will in turn be ranked higher than pages that contain one of the two words but not the other.
Today many sites on the Internet offer large volumes of time sensitive content, such as financial news, business news, real-time weather reports, and other types of streaming media content. However, current search systems may operate very inefficiently when handling a large volume of user requests. As a result, most users are overwhelmed with finding the information they desire at a time when its available.
One problem relating to the efficiency of current search systems is the problem of efficiently filtering a large diverse stream of electronic information to a large collection of users. For example, thousands of users may submit search queries for financial information in any given day. Typically, each user""s query is individually searched with the result provided directly to the user. However, many of the users may have overlapping queries that result in repetitive searches only to obtain the same information.
Another problem with current search systems occurs when one or more users want to perform the same or similar searches periodically over time to find the most recent information that becomes available. This is referred to as a xe2x80x9cpersistent query.xe2x80x9d Typical search systems fail to efficiently handle persistent queries from a large number of users.
The present invention provides a search engine that forms a compact representation of a plurality of user queries to efficiently find desired information in an information network. Each of the user queries, which are part of a user profile, are pre-processed to substitute special characters for numerical values and enumerated data types. The search engine includes an efficient mechanism to combine the pre-processed user queries into a master search query and to match the master query with information in a content stream transmitted over the data network. Thus, the present invention reverses the traditional information retrieval approach of indexing a collection of documents separately for each user query by providing a well-organized and compact representation of the user queries through which information flows.
The search engine allows a user to enter a set of long-standing or persistent queries representative of the user""s interests. Instead of performing repetitive searches for each individual user, the search engine effectively combines all user queries to form a master search query. Information content received by the search engine is matched with the master search query to produce a search result. Selected information in the search result is delivered to each individual user in accordance with a user profile that includes user contact rules.
As the Internet continues to grow, the information processed by the included search engine can be very diverse. For example, on-line classified advertisements can be automatically delivered to users who are looking for a place to live.
Information regarding new products within a certain price range can be delivered to consumers to assist them in their purchasing decisions. Other information areas that personalized information delivery would benefit users include news articles, weather and traffic information, online auctions and other time sensitive postings.
The information delivery mechanisms include email, instant Internet messaging products (Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, etc.), wireless text messaging, fax, voice messages, and personalized Web pages.
In one embodiment of the invention, a search engine for receiving information content over a data network and searching the information content based on a plurality of queries associated with a plurality of users is provided. The search engine comprises a profile processor having logic to receive the queries from the users and a search module. The search module is coupled to the profile processor and has logic to receive the information content, to combine the user queries into a master query, and to match the master query with the information content to determine matching content. The search engine also includes logic to analyze the matching content to determine if any of the queries has been satisfied.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the inventions herein may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the attached drawings.